What do you think about this article? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/
I have students in my classroom each session that tell me how they do well in every subject but math; therefore, they must not be a math person. I always ask them what a math person looks like and how could I spot one walking down the street. They look at me perplexed and say they love numbers and letters. I tell them that I never considered myself a math person but yet I went on to get my math degree - so I how did that happen? The point I am trying to make is that there isn't a such a thing as a math person or an English person - it is all about time, effort, and energy. Time, to be okay with productive struggle (keyword: productive) patience with oneself when the answer doesn't just pop into our heads. Effort, to be willing to try and try again ...and when fell like giving up keep pushing forward. Energy, to invest in wanting to know.
Anyone else experience things like this? How do you handle it?
Brooke
Comments
If you ask follow up questions of people to have them define Math when they say they can't do math or are not a math person, you will hear very similar responses. "I can't do all the formulas and word problems stink!" I have expanded that inquiry to dive further into examples they can bring to mind. It is interesting that in most cases, I can represent the math concept or representation a different way (usually in context of their life or job) and things become so much easier. I often hear, "Yea, but that is not what this problem is asking..." We continue with a few more questions that take their contextual reference and ask a few "What if ...?" questions that equate to algebra type processing without all the symbols and formulas. The response is often, "That's it? That is what that kind of problem is all about?" It does take a bit more to break down the math symbols used and then to insert those into our contextual framework. Given a similar problem, the learner experiences much more success sustained over time. With enough experience with this line of thinking: Image, context, conceptual processing, symbols, formula, computational processing, reflection on results; learners have so much less anxiety and the mental flexibility given any problem improves a good deal. This does take time to develop of course because it has not been the norm for most learners.
I would also challenge what we call math. Spacial thinking, like being able to geoposition oneself in a city after only viewing an overhead map once, is closely tied to thinking in many of the ratio and proportion questions in Geometry. Attempting to predict the next play in a football game exercises many of the foundation concepts of data analysis and statistics, even if the prediction is based on bad assumptions. Our ability to solve spacial puzzles, logic puzzles, linguistic puzzles or to master the metagame concepts of any game we play all utilize mathematical processing that crosses many of the Maths we aim to bolster. Sure, none of this type of math is on "the test", but it is important to highlight with learners the difference between being good at different aspects of any learning rather than one or two challenges (symbols, computational procedures).
A good example of this is a college test one of my students brought to me. She was in tears because she had a 68 for a grade. There were 25 questions and she had been marked incorrect on 8 problems. After she was able to calm down a bit, we dove into each of those 8 problems to find that her work was completely accurate and appropriate for 7 of the 8 problems with one exception. On all 7 of those problems she had one computation error in which a negative value was processed incorrectly. Interestingly, it was processed incorrectly in the same way for all 7 problems. With this new light, I asked her what her actual math understanding grade was. 24/25. I then asked now many computational processing errors she made; just one done 7 times. I then highlighted all of the other skills and knowledge she had to have to process the other parts she had done correctly. It was overwhelmingly positive how many of the key concepts and procedures she had demonstrated in her work! Without all this effort to really dive into what she had done "wrong", she was convinced that she was a math looser with a 68 for a score and yet the mathematical evidence presence in her work indicated she had one concept and one process she needed to work on. She was not able to share any of this logic with her professor because her ability to self advocate was weak, but she was able to have a different perspective on her math ability and how those minor challenges she had could be addressed.
The way educators evaluate math or describe math in such a narrow focus (whats on the test) helps to create the negative perceptions and math inadequacy many learners struggle to overcome.
I am a GED teacher and many of my students say that they are not math people. They come in with lots of math anxiety built up from years of not being successful in math. I have to continuously reassure them that mistakes are part of the process. I think that math requires making more mistakes than other subjects. I always tell them, "I have a Masters degree in math, and I still make multiplication errors." Many students also come into class with the questions, "When am I ever going to use this?" I have an answer that I got from another teacher, and it usually satisfies them. The answer is: Who likes sports? What's your favorite team? Ok, so do you think the quarterback of that football team lifts weights in the gym? But does he go out on the field on Sunday afternoon and bring his weight bench to lift weights? No. He uses the weights to prepare his body for the game on Sunday. In the same way, we are using math to prepare our brains for a future job or career. By learning this algebra/geometry/trigonometry, we are learning the critical thinking skills that we will need to be successful for the future.
For me, I usually relate most math topics to money. Many students (and people) love money but think that they can love money without loving math. Math works really well for integers, decimals and in some ways fractions.
After introduction to a skill, I try to have a project or performance task that relates real-world examples to the skill that we are working on. it has mixed success but once the student begins to understand that the math they learn in a classroom is the same as the math they use in their everyday life.
And this is something I have to repeat over and over and over and over and over again.
Alfons
Here is another article that talks about telling kids you're bad at math and that it spreads math anxiety. Link: http://wapo.st/2qyrG0U I know that have quit asking students to rate their skill level because I would always hear something like, "I am an English person, not a math person" or "I hate math" or "I am not smart enough to do math"...etc. I usually ask my learners to answer this question: "If math could be a car, what kind of car would it be and why?" My college professor, Dr. Schrock, would ask this question and I always liked how it would indicate a learner's feelings about math without having them say that they didn't like it or if they did.
What are some other strategies that you use in your classrooms to help learners and to identify how they feel about mathematics?
Brooke
There is a saying that whatever you concentrate the most energy on in life, you will become. To that end, I continue to try to focus on the positive. When dealing with math anxiety, a positive outlook is hard to do. Here is my current attempt with learners.
We all like to feel successful and confident about ourselves and our abilities. Can you share with me when you have felt successful and confident in Mathematics and what was it about that math that you found easy/enjoyable/positive?
This begins a positive focus discussion that will then dive into things like, "What makes (insert some other math topic) more challenging than the one you shared you had success with?" I begin to learn what helps them feel successful and what challenges are in the way of their success with at least one math topic. I am finding more and more that that challenge they share is often one that affects many of their math topic struggles. With the challenge identified, as well as identifying what helps the student feel successful, I now have some powerful tools to work with to help this learner. All that power from two simple questions that help the learner feel good about themselves and it helps them identify an obstacle that a professional says can be over come.
Every time I hear the negative anxieties about math, I have also started asking learners to "Prove it." They eventually share an example and I have them try out a similar example to prove to me where the difficulty is. In almost every case so far, the learner is missing one key procedural step, one computational error, one vocabulary problem, or one conceptual perspective is missing. The point is that the learner often knows more than 80% of this thing they are feeling such a failure about. I then joke about how we make ourselves feel so bad about being 80% correct when baseball players get put in their hall of fame with only a 40% success rate!
Two strategies I have had some success with in terms of learning about my learners successes and challenges in math. I would love to hear approaches others have so I may pick up more things to try.
It takes lots of small successes to erode the negativity...
... I am **so** grateful to be tutoring students where the teachers really go after building concepts and connections... and students are usually appropriately placed. We'll see how that goes with our big change to ALEKS -- but yes, I also experience that students are "this close" to being able to do things.
It's hard to read sometimes what's happening in their brains -- some are very good at appearing calm when they're actually terrified. When I say "inverse variation means when one goes up and the other goes down... This says it's inverse variation... the X is going up, which direction is the y going in?" and they say "up??"... then.. I know it's time to change something... (I've got a couple in that category right now...who are, alas, also *very* resistant to "let's try something else and get back to this!" )
... though it is car-culture so I might say "mode of transportation -- kind of car or any other way people get where they need to go."
However, I think it's important to keep going and do more than positive self talk about math. We need to include teaching math in ways that don't make liars out of the positive self talk. At the very, very end of the NY Times article mention is made of changing teaching. Boaler's and others' work include ways to teach math so that it's about exploring and making mistakes but I am fairly certain that a lot of people aren't doing that. Calling attention to the reality that being anxious can really skewer performance and provide pretty convincing "evidence" that a person can't do math is important, but we need to also create an environment so that doesn't happen.
I don't mean to remove all the stress -- I can't get on the "BAN TIMED TESTS" bandwagon. (I think for some students it's a reasonable accommodation but timed tests are a trigger, not the problem itself.)
I don't try to convince people to like math. Someone shared the Math Anxiety Bill of Rights with me once (http://faculty.mc3.edu/cvaughen/mathconfidence/rights.htm), and I really liked it. I know that I, personally, can be a contrary person, and the more someone tells me I should like something, the more I am inclined to find reasons not to like it. If I spend the whole class telling people how great math is and they don't agree, then I've lost them. If I try to tell them that math is simple or logical, then they feel stupid for not getting it. I do try to make math simple and relatable some of the time, but I also intentionally present complicated and challenging problems. I elicit/show multiple ways to work through a problem. I ask for students' thoughts as we work through one step at a time. I ask what type of answers would make sense. I allow group/pair work and independent work. I ask people why they chose a certain operation or how they got that answer whether it is right or wrong. I draw pictures. I let people choose not to speak up. I offer review problems that are challenging but doable, and we do similar types of review problems every day so that the beginning of class is predictable. I let people use calculators and cell phones. We make jokes about the silly situations the people in word problems are worried about (Who among you has ever lent money to your brother at 8% simple interest for 10 months?). I make mistakes. I get out the manipulatives. I show enthusiasm. I applaud partial answers and smart mistakes. I try to make things interesting and fun. I want class to be a good experience. But that's not the same thing.
If a student says, "I don't like math." I say, "That's ok. You don't have to like it. However, since you want to pass a high school equivalency test, you will have to know how to do it. What are you having trouble with right now?" This happens about as often as the same conversation about reading or writing. I want to move from the blanket statement about math to the more specific trigger that set off the student.
It's unhelpful to say that an entire subject is horrible or fantastic. One of my students loves solving 2-step algebra problems. She hates geometry word problems. She can often do them, but she doesn't like them. That's fine. I like science, but I don't enjoy every scientific article I come across. Sometimes the topic is not interesting or the language is too technical. I may be able to read it, but that doesn't make it enjoyable.
I find that as students build up their basic math skills and start thinking about what makes sense in a given situation, they do like math more. They like it when they get to show another student how to do something. They like it when they get the answer right or even sometimes when they understand why they got it wrong. They like it when they see the pattern. They like it when I put something scary-looking on the board and they can handle it. Occasionally, someone will say they like math. Occasionally, someone will say they don't like math. Sometimes it's not the people you would expect based on their skill levels.
Just because I can pay my bills each month, and it's important and relevant to my life that I pay my bills, doesn't mean that I'm excited to do so. The important thing is that I am not held back by this. When I have to do the bills, I can. If my husband will do them, even better. Math is the same way. Some people like it, some don't. But the important thing is that when you have to do it, you can.